Archaeology scientific

Early scientific studies were ptedominandy aimed at objects often referred to as belonging to the fine arts. Subsequendy, equal importance and effort has been attached to studies of objects of cultural and historical interest, such as archaeological and ethnographic materials, or manuscripts, documents, photographs, and books in archives andUbraries. This article is meant to be inclusive of all such objects as well as of fine arts objects. The term art object when used is an inclusive, generic connotation rather than an exclusive one. 

Clair C. Patterson, T. J. Chow, and M. Murozumi. The Possibility of Measuring Variations in the Intensity of Worldwide Lead Smelting during Medieval and Ancient Times Using Lead Aerosol Deposits in Polar Snow Strata. In Scientific Methods in Medieval Archaeology. Rainer Berger, ed. Berkeley University of California Press, 1970, pp. 339-350. 

Carbon Dioxide. Carbon dioxide, also a colorless and odorless gas, makes up about 0.03% of dry air. Carbon dioxide is introduced into the atmosphere by several natural processes it is released from volcanoes, from burning organic matter, and from living animals as a byproduct of the respiration process. It is for this latter reason that carbon dioxide plays a vital role in the carbon cycle (see Fig. 62), which makes possible one of the more important scientific tools in archaeology, radiocarbon dating (see Textbox 52). 

Almond, M., S. Eversfield, and S. Atkinson (2005), A window on the past Scientific study and chemical analysis in archaeological research, Chemistry Industry 14, 14-17. 

Henderson, J. (ed.) (1989), Scientific Analysis in Archaeology and its Interpretation, Oxford Univ. Committee for Archaeology Monograph 19, Oxford, UK. 

Pernicka, E. (2004), Archaeometallurgy Examples of the application of scientific methods to the provenance of archaeological metal objects, Proc. Int. School of Physics "Enrico Fermi," Vol. 154, Physics Methods in Archaeometry, pp. 309-329. 

The development of scientific procedures that are able to use very minute samples (a few micrograms), together with the increased availability of advanced analytical instrumentation, have led to great interest in the chemical study of materials used in cultural heritage. This has given rise to a sharp increase in research studies at the interface between art, archaeology, chemistry and the material sciences. As a result, successful multidisciplinary collaborations have flourished among researchers in museums, conservation institutions, universities and scientific laboratories. 

Grey, D. C., Damon, P. E., Scientific Methods in Medieval Archaeology, Sunspots and radiocarbon dating in Middle Ages,... 

Scientific techniques, such as radiocarbon dating, applied to archaeology is sometimes termed archaeometry. 

The claim that archaeology is a science is clearly not universally held. Many archaeologists suggest that the study of human behaviour in the past is restricted by science, with its apparent rigidity of scientific method and dubious claims of certainty, and must continue to reside with the humanities. Undoubtedly, archaeology is one of the few disciplines which straddles the gulf between the humanities and the sciences. 

The sheer diversity of scientific analysis in archaeology renders a coherent and comprehensive summary intractable. Tite (1991) has packaged archaeological science rather neatly into the following areas ... 

In Britain, the term archaeometry was coined in the early 1950s by Christopher Hawkes in Oxford to describe the increased emphasis on dating, quantification and physicochemical analysis of archaeological materials. A journal with the same name was launched in 1958 and textbooks by Martin Aitken (1961) and Mike Tite (1972) illustrated the full potential of emerging applications. In 1974, the first volume of another periodical dedicated to scientific work in archaeology (Journal of Archaeological Science) was published. 

PCR) and compared with sequences in other individuals and modern specimens. However, ancient DNA is severely damaged and fragmented. Contamination of aged samples and extracts with modern DNA is a serious problem and, whilst the study of DNA in archaeological samples will constitute a major area of future activity in the discipline, current research will continue to focus on the authentication of samples of ancient DNA advances have been so rapid that perusal of the appropriate scientific journals is essential. For somewhat more recent views of the state of ancient DNA research, see Willerslev and Cooper (2005). 

Although the majority of archaeologists acknowledge the contribution of scientific dating and analytical techniques to increasing the information potential of the past, the central concern prevails that scientific studies often proceed in a context devoid of a specific archaeological problem (Yoffee and Sherratt,... 

Aitken, M.J. (1990). Scientific Dating Techniques in Archaeology. Longman, London. 

Pollard, A.M. (2004). Putting infinity up on trial a consideration of the role of scientific thinking in future archaeologies. In A Companion to Archaeology, ed. Bintliff, J., Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 380-396. 

Chapter 1 identified source attribution of archaeological materials as one of the most important areas of scientific analysis. This chapter focuses on one of... 

Arias, C., Bigazzi, G., Bonadonna, F.P., Cipolloni, M., Hadler, J.C., Lattes, C.M.G. and Radi, G. (1986). Fission track dating in archaeology a useful application. In Scientific Methodologies Applied to Works of Art, ed. Parrini, P.L., Montedison Progetto Cultura, Milan, pp. 151-159. 

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